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Spotify has not revealed specific numbers on Joe Rogan’s listenership. However, the company has boasted about the success of the Joe Rogan Experience on numerous occasions.
Joe Rogan could easily be considered a podcasting icon in the industry. JRE has had a never-ending list of celebrities appearing as guests, from Bernie Sanders to Elon Musk.
Joe Rogan's position was further cemented in the industry when Spotify signed a reported $100 million-deal to bring his podcast exclusively to the platform.
JRE debuted on Spotify on September 1, 2020, and became exclusive to the service in December. It quickly rose to the top of Spotify's podcast rankings after its debut. It received massive success in the three months after the first episode on the platform.
A report released by Spotify in February this year read:
"[Rogan] stimulated new user additions, activated first-time podcast listeners, and [has] driven favourable engagement trends, including vodcast consumption."
Moreover, in April, Spotify admitted that JRE had “performed above expectations.”
According to Business Insider, a leaked internal newsletter from Spotify disclosed that the podcast accounted for nearly 5% of total podcast listeners when it was first released on the platform last September. Following that, the podcast attracted nearly three million listeners in its first month after becoming exclusive to Spotify.
Check out Joe Rogan's reasons for hosting the podcast below:
Is the Joe Rogan Experience losing its relevance?
Many fans were upset by Rogan's exclusive deal with Spotify. Followers expressed concerns about the switch to the platform, ranging from mid-show advertisements to video podcasts that do not support television coverage.
According to an investigation by The Verge, before going exclusive, Rogan's guests could expect to gain around 4,000 Twitter followers in the week following the premiere of their episode from December 2019 to November 2020. That number dropped by half after he went exclusively to Spotify, indicating a drop in listeners.
Moreover, data from Google Trends showed that searches for Joe Rogan's name increased regularly in 2020. However, as soon as he went exclusively to the Swedish-based platform, the number of searches dropped.
This dip in popularity was further triggered when he discouraged young adults from getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In a conversation with comedian Dave Smith, Joe Rogan said:
“If you’re, like, 21 years old and you say to me, should I get vaccinated? I’ll go no.”
